Method and apparatus for organizing and recovering information communicated in a radio communication system

ABSTRACT

A system controller (102) generates and transmits a radio signal having long messages in data frames (370), and short and long messages in control frames (360). A set of selective call radio addresses is included at the beginning of a control frame (360), each selective call radio address including a subvector which indicates the starting position of a short message or a vector packet within the control frame (360). Vector packets indicate starting positions of long messages within the control frame (360), within other control frames (360), and within data frames (370). A selective call radio (106) receives the radio signal and recovers and processes the short and long messages, using the subvectors and vectors to identify the positions of the short and long messages.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/404,698, filed Mar.15, 1995 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,568.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to a method and apparatus fororganizing and recovering information communicated in a radio signal,and in particular to an improved technique for identifying a position ofa message in a radio signal, in which the message is included in a radiosignal transmitted on a different radio channel than a radio signalwhich includes the address of the selective call radio for which themessage is intended.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A known technique of organizing information for communication toselective call radios such as pagers in a radio communication system isto arrange the addresses of selective call radios for which messageinformation is included in a predetermined portion of a transmissioncycle, such as a frame, at the beginning of the predetermined portion ofthe transmission cycle in an address field, separated from the messageinformation intended for the selective call radios. This has theadvantage of improving the battery life of the selective call radios,because a radio which has no information in the predetermined portion ofthe transmission cycle can quickly revert to a low power mode as soon asit determines its address is not in the address field.

When the addresses are positioned at the beginning of the predeterminedportion of the transmission cycle, the position of the messageinformation intended for the selective call radios must be determined bythe selective call radios in order for them to recover the messageinformation. A technique for determining the position of the informationis used in the well known FLEX™ protocol of Motorola, Inc. ofSchaumburg, Ill. In this protocol a starting position of messageinformation within the predetermined portion of the transmission cycleis indicated by a vector which has a length and position determined on aone for one basis by the length and position of the address associatedwith the vector. While this protocol works quite well, it haslimitations. One limitation is that, as channel arrangements have becomemore sophisticated, the amount of information required in a vectorrequires a longer vector than the associated address. Another limitationis that the message information must be within the same predeterminedportion of the transmission cycle. This other limitation arises partlyfrom the limitation on the length of the vectors due to theircorrespondence to the length of the addresses in the FLEX™ protocol.

Thus, what is needed is an improved technique for organizing messageinformation in a radio communication system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an electrical block diagram of a radio communication system,in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an electrical block diagram of a system controller used in theradio communication system, in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 are timing diagrams of frames included in a radiosignal transmitted by a transmitter in radio communication system, inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an electrical block diagram of a selective call radio used inthe radio communication system, in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a flow chart of a method used in the system controller, inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a flow chart of a method used in the selective callradio, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to FIG. 1, an electrical block diagram of a radiocommunication system 100 is shown in accordance with the preferredembodiment of the present invention. The radio communication system 100comprises a message input device, such as a conventional telephone 101connected through a conventional switched telephone network (PSTN) 108by conventional telephone links 110 to a system controller 102. Thesystem controller 102 oversees the operation of at least one radiofrequency transmitter/receiver 103 and at least one fixed systemreceiver 107, through one or more communication links 116, whichtypically are twisted pair telephone wires, and additionally can includeRF, microwave, or other high quality audio communication links. Thesystem controller 102 encodes and decodes inbound and outbound telephoneaddresses into formats that are compatible with land line message switchcomputers. The system controller 102 also functions to digitally encodeand schedule outbound messages, which can include such information asdigitized audio messages, alphanumeric messages, and response commands,for transmission by the radio frequency transmitter/receivers 103 to aplurality of selective call radios 106. The system controller 102further functions to decode inbound messages, including unsolicited andresponse messages, received by the radio frequency transmitter/receivers103 and the fixed system receivers 107 from the plurality of selectivecall radios 106.

Examples of response messages are acknowledgments and designatedresponse messages. Designated response messages are communicated in theinbound channel in portions named data units. An acknowledgment is aresponse to an outbound message initiated at the system controller 102.An example of an outbound alphanumeric message intended for a selectivecall radio 106 is a page message entered from the telephone 101. Theacknowledgment indicates successful reception of the outbound message. Adesignated response message is a message sent from a selective callradio in response to a command included in an outbound message from thesystem controller 102. An example of a designated response message is amessage initiated by the selective call radio 106, but which is nottransmitted until after a response command is received from the systemcontroller 102. The response command, in turn, is sent by the systemcontroller 102 after an inbound message requesting permission totransmit the designated response message is communicated from theselective call radio 106 to the system controller 102. The responsemessages are preferably transmitted at a time designated within theoutbound message or response command, but alternatively can betransmitted using a non-scheduled protocol, such as the ALOHA or slottedALOHA protocol, which are well known to one of ordinary skill in theart.

An unsolicited message is an inbound message transmitted by a selectivecall radio 106 without having received an outbound message whichrequires a response. An example of an unsolicited message is an inboundmessage from a selective call radio 106 which alerts the radiocommunication system 100 that the selective call radio 106 is withinradio range of the radio communication system 100. An unsolicitedmessage can include a request to transmit a designated response and caninclude data such as alphanumeric, fax, or digitized voice data.Unsolicited messages are transmitted using an ALOHA or slotted ALOHAprotocol. The outbound messages are included in outbound radio signalstransmitted from a conventional antenna 104 coupled to the radiofrequency transmitter/receiver 103. The inbound messages are included ininbound radio signals received by the conventional antenna 104 coupledto the radio frequency transmitter/receiver 103 and the conventionalantenna 109 coupled to the fixed system receiver 107.

It should be noted that the system controller 102 is capable ofoperating in a distributed transmission control environment that allowsmixing conventional cellular, simulcast, master/slave, or other coverageschemes involving a plurality of radio frequency transmitter/receivers103, conventional antennas 104, 109, and fixed system receivers 107, forproviding reliable radio signals within a geographic area as large as anationwide network. Moreover, as one of ordinary skill in the art wouldrecognize, the telephonic and selective call radio communication systemfunctions may reside in separate system controllers 102 which operateeither independently or in a networked fashion.

It should also be noted that the radio frequency transmitter/receiver103 may comprise the fixed system receiver 107 collocated with aconventional radio frequency transmitter.

It will be appreciated that other selective call radio devices (notshown in FIG. 1), such as one and two way pagers, conventional mobilecellular telephones, mobile radio data terminals, mobile cellulartelephones having attached data terminals, or mobile radios (trunked andnon-trunked) having data terminals attached, are also able to be used inthe radio communication system 100. In the following description, theterm "selective call radio" will be used to refer to the personal radiotelephone, the portable transmitting/receiving device 106, a mobilecellular telephone, a mobile radio data terminal, a mobile cellulartelephone having an attached data terminal, or a mobile radio(conventional or trunked) having a data terminal attached. Each of theselective call radios assigned for use in the radio communication system100 has an address assigned thereto which is a unique selective calladdress. The address enables the transmission of a message from thesystem controller 102 only to the addressed selective call radio, andidentifies messages and responses received at the system controller 102from the selective call radio. Furthermore, each of one or more of theselective call radios also has a unique telephone number assignedthereto, the telephone number being unique within the PSTN 108. A listof the assigned selective call addresses and correlated telephonenumbers for the selective call radios is stored in the system controller102 in the form of a subscriber data base.

Referring to FIG. 2, an electrical block diagram of the systemcontroller 102 is shown, in accordance with the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. The system controller 102 comprises a cell sitecontroller 202, a message handler 204, an outbound message memory 208, asubscriber data base 220, a telephone interface 206, a channelassignment element 210, an address field element 212, an informationfield element 214, a data frame element 216, and a control frame element218. The cell site controller 202 is coupled to the radio frequencytransmitter/receivers 103 (FIG. 1) and fixed system receivers 107(FIG. 1) by the links 116. The cell site controller 202 couples outboundmessages including selective call addresses to the transmitter/receivers103 and controls the transmitter/receivers 103 to transmit transmissioncycles which include the outbound messages. The cell site controller 202also processes inbound messages from the selective call radios 106. Theinbound messages are received by the transmitter/receivers 103 and fixedsystem receivers 107, and are coupled to the cell site controller 202.The message handler 204, which routes and processes messages, is coupledto the telephone interface 206, the subscriber data base 220, and theoutbound message memory 208. The telephone interface 206 handles theswitched telephone network 108 (PSTN) (FIG. 1) physical connection,connecting and disconnecting telephone calls at the telephone links 110,and routing the audio signals between the telephone links 110 and themessage handler 204.

The subscriber data base 220 stores information for each subscriber,including a correlation between a selective call address assigned toeach selective call radio 106 and the telephone number used within thePSTN 108 to route messages and telephone calls to each selective callradio 106, as well as other subscriber determined preferences, such ashours during which messages are to be held back from delivery to theselective call radio 106. The outbound message memory 208 is for storinga queue of messages which are queued for delivery to at least one of theplurality of selective call radios 106, wherein each message of thequeue of messages is associated with a selective call address, alsostored in the outbound message memory 208, of one of the plurality ofselective call radios 106 for which each message is intended. Themessage handler 204 schedules outbound messages and the selective calladdresses associated therewith within a transmission cycle. The messagehandler 204 also determines response schedules for response messageswhich minimize contention of messages at transmitter/receivers 103 andfixed system receivers 107, and includes response timing information inoutbound messages so that selective call radios 106 will respondaccording to the response schedule. The message handler 204 identifiesan inbound message as being a response message associated with one ofthe selective call radios in the subscriber data base 220, identifiesthe response message as being associated with one of the outboundmessages in the outbound message memory 208. The message handler 204then further processes the outbound and response messages according totheir content. The cell site controller 202, the message handler 204,the outbound message memory 208, the subscriber data base 220, and thetelephone interface 206, are conventional elements of the systemcontroller 102.

As one example of an operation of the system controller 102, thedelivery of an outbound message stored in the outbound message memory208 is completed when the outbound message has been communicated to theintended selective call radio 106, the message is presented on a displayof the selective call radio 106 by a user action, a message response iscommunicated back to the system controller 102 from the selective callradio 106, and the message response is identified by the message handler204 as being a user acknowledgment generated by the selective call radio106 specifically for the outbound message. In this example, the messagehandler 204 generates another message which is sent to the originator ofthe outbound message to notify the originator that the message has beenacknowledged by the selective call radio 106.

Unique functions of the system controller 102 in accordance with thepreferred embodiment of the present invention are included in thechannel assignment element 210, the address field element 212, theinformation field element 214, the data frame element 216, and thecontrol frame element 218.

The address field element 212 is coupled to the subscriber data base220, the outbound message memory 208, the information field element 214,and the control frame element 218. The information field element 214 isfurther coupled to the outbound message memory 208 and the control frameelement 218. The control frame element 218 is further coupled to thecell site controller 202. The channel assignment element 210 is coupledto the data frame element 216. The address field element 212 recoversmessages from the outbound message memory 208 which have been scheduledfor transmission in an upcoming transmission cycle. The address fieldelement 212 determines, for each recovered message, the associatedselective call address (from the subscriber data base 220) and thelength of the message. The length of the message is coupled to theinformation field element 214.

When the message information is one of a set of predetermined shortmessages, for example an acknowledgment or a response command, or whenthe message information is less than a first predetermined length, whichin this example is three words long, the message is coupled by theinformation field element 214 to the control frame element 218 forinclusion as a short message packet into an information field of acontrol frame being assembled by the control frame element 218 at astarting position within the control frame. The control frame element218 couples the starting position of the short message to the addressfield element 212, which generates a subvector associated with theselective call address and which indicates the starting position. Thelength of each short message which is in the set of predetermined shortmessages is indicated within each predetermined message, and is lessthan a second predetermined length, which in this example is nine wordslong. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, for example, short messages which command a selective callradio 106 to perform an automatic repeat request are of variable lengthof from 4 to 8 words long depending on a number of predetermined lengthresponse data packets that the selective call radio 106 is beingcommanded to retransmit. The length of each short message which is notin the set of predetermined messages is included in each short messageby the control frame element 218. The selective call address with thesubvector is then coupled to the control frame element 218 and assembledby the control frame element 218 into an address field of the samecontrol frame in which the short message packet is located.

When the message information is not one of the set of predeterminedshort messages, or has a length equal to or more than the firstpredetermined length, the message is coupled by the information fieldelement 214 to the data frame element 216 for inclusion as a longmessage packet into an information field of a control frame or a dataframe being assembled, respectively, by the control frame element 218 orthe data frame element 216 at a starting position within the controlframe or data frame. The control frame element 218 or data frame element216 couples the starting position of the long message within the controlor data frame and the length of the long message to the informationfield element 214, which generates a vector packet which is coupled toand included by the control frame element 218 in the information portionof the control frame. The vector, which is less than a thirdpredetermined length, which in this example is less than six words long,indicates the starting position and the length of the long message. Thecontrol frame element 218 couples the starting position of the vectorpacket within the control frame to the address field element 212, whichgenerates a subvector associated with the selective call address whichindicates the starting position of the vector packet. The selective calladdress with the subvector is then assembled by the control frameelement 218 into an address field of the same control frame whichincludes the vector packet.

When the radio communication system 100 comprises more than one forwardchannel, as for example, in a system having three radio frequenciesusable for simultaneous broadcasting of radio signals, the channelassignment element 210 schedules data frames for transmission on one ofthe plurality of forward channels. In this situation, the data frameelement 216 couples to the information field element 214 an indicationof which channel the data frame will be transmitted on as a part of thestarting position of the long message, for inclusion in the vectorpacket generated by the control frame element 218.

It will be further appreciated that for improved battery life in theselective call radios 106, selective call addresses for messagesintended for a particular selective call radio 106 are included in acontrol frame which is at a predetermined position of a transmissioncycle, so that the selective call radio 106 need only go into a normalpower mode at the beginning of the predetermined control frame.

System controller 102 is preferably a model MPS2000® paging terminalmanufactured by Motorola, Inc., of Schaumburg, Ill., modified withunique firmware elements in accordance with the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, as described herein. The cell site controller202, the message handler 204, the outbound message memory 208, thesubscriber data base 220, the telephone interface 206, the channelassignment element 210, the address field element 212, the informationfield element 214, the data frame element 216, and the control frameelement 218 are preferably implemented within portions of the modelMPS2000® paging terminal which include, but are not limited to thoseportions providing program memory, a central processing unit,input/output peripherals, and a random access memory. The systemcontroller alternatively could be implemented using a model E09PED0552PageBridge® paging terminal manufactured by Motorola, Incorporated ofSchaumburg, Ill. The subscriber data base 220 and the outbound messagememory 208 can alternatively be implemented as magnetic or optical diskmemory, which can alternatively be external to the system controller102.

Referring to FIG. 3, a timing diagram illustrating features of thetransmission format of an outbound signaling protocol utilized by theradio communication system of FIG. 1 to transmit a message from thesystem controller 102 to the selective call radio 106 is shown, inaccordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Thesignaling protocol is similar to the FLEX™ protocol, which is asynchronous outbound signaling protocol. The signaling protocol issubdivided into protocol divisions, which are an hour 310, a cycle 320,a frame 330, a block 340, and a word 350. Up to fifteen 4 minuteuniquely identified cycles are transmitted in each hour 310. Normally,all fifteen cycles 320 are transmitted each hour. Up to one hundredtwenty eight 1.875 second uniquely identified frames are transmitted ineach of the cycles 320. Normally, all one hundred twenty eight framesare transmitted. One synchronization signal 331 lasting one hundredfifteen milliseconds and 11 one hundred sixty millisecond uniquelyidentified blocks 340 are transmitted in each of the frames 330. Bitrates of 1600 bits per second (bps), 3200 bps, or 6400 bps are usableduring each frame 330. The bit rate of each frame 330 is communicated tothe selective call radios 106 during the synchronization signal 331.When the bit rate is 1600 bps, 8 thirty two bit uniquely identifiedwords 350 are transmitted in each block 340. For bit rates of 3200 bpsor 6400 bps, 16 uniquely identified words or 32 uniquely identifiedwords, respectively, each having 32 uniquely identified bits, areincluded in each block 340. In each word, at least 11 bits are used forerror detection and correction, and 21 bits or less are used forinformation, in a manner well known to one of ordinary skill in the art.In some words, 15 bits are used for error detection and correction, and17 bits are for information, in a manner well known to one of ordinaryskill in the art. The bits and words 350 in each block 340 aretransmitted in an interleaved fashion using techniques well known to oneof ordinary skill in the art to improve the burst error correctioncapability of the protocol. The transmission cycle referred to above inthe description of the system controller 102 with reference to FIG. 2comprises a cycle 320.

A frame 330 is further defined to be one of two specific types dependingupon the information found within the frame 330. The first type of frame330 is a control frame 360. The second type of frame 330 is a data frame370.

Information is included in each control frame 360 in fields, comprisingsystem information in a system information field (SI) 332, one or moreselective call addresses with subvectors in an address field (AF) 333,one or more of a set of vector packets, short message packets, and longmessages in the information field (IF) 335, and an unused field 336having no useful information therein. Each vector packet and shortmessage packet in the information field 335 of a control frame 360corresponds to at least one of the addresses in the address field 333 ofthe same control frame 360. Each long message in the information field335 corresponds to at least one vector packet in the information field335 of at least one or more control frames 360. The boundaries of thefields 332, 333, 335, 336 are defined by the words 350, not by theblocks 340, and the length of the fields 332, 333, 335, 336 arevariable, depending on factors such as the type of system informationincluded in the system information field 332, the type of addressesused, and the amount of information in each message. In particular, theboundary between the address field 333 and the information field 335 isreferred to as the address field boundary 334. Thus, the length of eachof the fields 332, 333, 335, 336 can be shorter or longer than a block340. The unused field 336 can be zero length when the total of thelengths of the other fields 332, 333, 335 equals eleven blocks 340. Allvector packets and short messages intended for a particular selectivecall radio 106 are preferably scheduled for transmission in apredetermined one or more of the frames 330 of each cycle 320, so as toallow the particular selective call radio 106 to go into a low powermode during other frames when short messages and vectors are notincluded for the particular selective call radio 106.

Information is included in each data frame 370 in fields, comprisingsystem information in a system information field (SI) 332, and longmessages in the information field (IF) 335, and an unused field 336having no useful information therein. Each long message in theinformation field 335 corresponds to at least one vector packet in theinformation field 335 of at least one or more control frames 360. Theboundaries of the fields 332, 335, 336 are defined by the words 350, notby the blocks 340, and the length of the fields 332, 335, 336 arevariable, depending on factors such as the type of system informationincluded in the system information field 332, and the amount ofinformation in the long messages.

The vectors contain information which specifies the starting word of along message, in terms of the protocol divisions described above, andadditionally, radio channel information such as radio channel frequency,subchannel offset from the radio channel frequency, side band, andin-phase or quadrature channel. The starting position and length of along message, a short message, or a vector packet define the protocolposition of the long message, short message, or vector packet. Theprotocol position can be on a different radio channel and in a differentdivision (i.e., cycle, frame, block) of the protocol.

When a selective call radio 106 detects its address with subvectorwithin a control frame 360, the selective call radio 106 is typicallydirected by the subvector to receive one of a vector packet or a shortmessage packet within the control frame 360 wherein the address withsubvector is detected. (In a limited number of cases, the address caninclude all the information needed to be conveyed to the selective callradio 106 in the form of a predetermined pattern of the subvector bitswhich are not used for position indication within the control frame 360,but rather for a limited number of messages having low informationcontent. An example is an acknowledgment to an inbound message from theselective call radio 106).

When a selective call radio 106 decodes a vector packet in a controlframe 360 which is associated with its selective call address, theselective call radio 106 is directed to receive and decode a longmessage in either the same control frame 360, or another control frame360, or a data frame 370. The frame 330 in which the selective callradio is to receive the long message is in a radio signal transmitted ineither a first radio channel where the selective call radio 106 detectsits address with subvector, or a second channel different than thechannel where the selective call radio detects its address withsubvector.

Referring to FIG. 4, a timing diagram illustrating a portion of acontrol frame 360 of the outbound signaling protocol utilized by theradio communication system of FIG. 1 is shown, in accordance with thepreferred embodiment of the present invention. The diagram shows thesynchronization signal 331, the system information field 332, theaddress field 333, and a portion of the information field 335. Threeaddresses 410, 411, 412, three data packets 420, 421, 422, a first longmessage 432, a second long message 430, and an Nth long message 431 areshown in FIG. 4. The three data packets 420, 421, 422 include two vectorpackets 420, 421 and a short message packet 422. The addresses 410, 411,412 are addresses with subvectors, of selective call radios 106. Each ofthe addresses 410, 411, 412 comprises two words (32 bits each) andincludes 8 bits of subvector information, which indicates a startingposition of a vector or short message packet within the same controlframe 360. The position is indicated as a number of words from theaddress boundary 334. It will be appreciated that by using eight bitsfor each subvector, the subvector can indicate a data packet startingposition up to two hundred fifty six words after the address boundary334. The total number of words in a frame sent at the highest data rateis three hundred fifty two words, and with typical information includedin the system information field 332 and the address field 333, asubvector can point to a worst case (shortest) long message at the endof a frame in all but very unusual cases. It will be appreciated thatthe number of bits reserved for the subvector in similar protocols couldbe more or less, depending on the exact definition of protocoldivisions.

The three data packets 420, 421, 422 are associated, respectively, withthe three addresses 410, 411, and 412. There is no size limitationplaced on the data packets 420, 421, 422 that are associated with any ofthe addresses 410, 411, 412, but the data packets 420, 421, 422 arepreferably less than six words long. The system controller 102preferably uses vector packets for minimizing the number of longmessages in the control frames, thereby reducing the average number ofcontrol frames 360 required in each cycle of the radio signal, in orderto improve the efficiency of message throughput in the radiocommunication system 100 and to provide improved battery life in theselective call radios 106, and by allowing long messages to be sent onradio channels other than the radio channel used for the control frame360. Thus, in situations in which the starting position of a longmessage is more complicated (such as a subchannel of another radiochannel in a different cycle), a longer vector packet 420, 421 isjustified than for simpler situations. Data packets are used to conveysmall amounts of information, including predetermined messages which areused repetitively, such as messages which direct a selective call radio106 to respond with information on a designated inbound radio channel ata designated starting position and messages which request informationfrom a selective call radio 106, such as the amount of message memoryremaining.

There is no unique ordered one to one correspondence of position withinthe information field 335 associating any address 410, 411, 412 with acorresponding data packet 420, 421, 422. Each of the vector packets 420,421 has information that identifies the starting position and length ofa long message, not necessarily in the same control frame 360, and eachvector packet is associated with one or more respective addresses 410,411, 412 in the same control frame 360. The starting position isidentified by the starting word of the long message. For example, vectorpacket 420 has information that indicates that message two 430, which isintended for selective call radio 106 having selective call address 411,is located starting at word thirty one 351 of block zero 341 of theframe 360, and is thirteen words long. A long message can becommunicated to more than one selective call radio 106, for example totwo selective call radios 106, by including an address for each of thetwo selective call radios 106 in the address field 333 of one or morecontrol frames 360, and having the vector packets associated with eachaddress indicate the same long message position. Alternatively, two ormore addresses in the same control frame 360 could have subvectors setso as to indicate the same vector packet which then indicates one longmessage. It will be appreciated that, due to the interleaving mentionedabove, the starting position (that is, the starting word) of an addressor vector or message in the described protocol is not necessarily asequential timing position (for example, all bits of word 7 in a block340 may not precede all bits of word 8) because the bits of the wordsare interleaved, but starting position is a unique identifiernonetheless.

It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that byembedding a short, eight bit subvector along with address bits of aselective call radio 106 in order to create the addresses 410, 411, 412,each of which includes a subvector, which in turn is used to direct theselective call radio 106 to the starting position of one of either ashort message packet or a vector packet within the control frame 360,wherein the vector packet is in turn able to command the selective callradio 106 to receive long messages in the current or other controlframes 360 or data frames 370 in any protocol position, the systemcontroller 102 is able to have considerable latitude and thereby improvethe efficiency of message scheduling and channel packing over prior artmethods of assembling information for transmission.

It will be further appreciated that the unique use of data packets whichare free from predetermined relationships with addresses found in priorart systems, and which can have variable lengths, allow for growth ofthe number of repetitively used predetermined short messages and forflexibility of protocol design for large radio communication systems100, while remaining compatible with older model selective call radios106.

Referring to FIG. 5, a timing diagram illustrating portions of cycles320 of the outbound signaling protocol utilized by the radiocommunication system of FIG. 1 is shown, in accordance with thepreferred embodiment of the present invention. In a control frame 360transmitted in a signal 524 on a first radio channel, the diagramillustrates the synchronization signal 331, the system information field332, the address field 333 including four addresses 522 with subvectors525, and a portion of the information field 335 (not identified in FIG.5). Vector packets 516, a short message packet 518 and long messages 520are illustrated within the information field 335 of the control frame360. The diagram in FIG. 5 illustrates the first signal 524 transmittedon the first radio channel and a second signal 526 transmitted on asecond radio channel synchronously with the first signal 524. Both thefirst signal 524 and the second signal 526 include control frames 360and/or data frames 370 as determined by the system controller 102. Theindications of the starting positions of vector packets 516 and theshort message packet 518 by the subvectors 525 within the same controlframe 360 and within the same radio channel 524 are illustrated by thearrowed lines 502. The indications of the starting positions of the longmessages 520 by vector packets 516 included in the first signal 524 orby vector packets 516 included in prior control frames 360 areillustrated by arrowed lines 504. The data frame 370 that is illustratedin the first signal 524 includes the frame synchronization 331, thesystem information 332 and long messages 520. The two frames that areassociated with the second signal 526 can be either control frames 360or data frames 370. For the purpose of this illustration the onlycontents of these frames 330 that are shown are the synchronizationsignal 331 and long messages 520.

It will be appreciated that when a selective call radio 106 has thecapability to store more than one frame 330 before processing the storedframes to recover the information intended for the selective call radio106, the system controller 102 can include a long message 520 in a frame330 being transmitted before or after the control frame 360 whichincludes the vector packet which indicates the protocol position of thelong message 520. It will be further appreciated that each subvectorindicates the starting position of one of a vector packet and a shortmessage packet, while the position of each of a vector packet and ashort message packet can be indicated by more than one subvector.Similarly, each vector indicates the starting position of a longmessage, while the position of each long message can be indicated bymore than one vector. This increases throughput efficiency over priorart systems which require one vector for each address.

It will be further appreciated that vector packets are of variouslengths depending on the type and protocol position of the long messagesto which the vector packets reference. For example a long messagecontaining hexadecimal or binary data typically requires delivery ofinformation within the vector packet which specifies encryption andcompression techniques used when processing the long message data in theselective call radio 106. Simple alphanumeric long message fields mayrequire no such information and hence their associated vector packetsmay be shorter. In addition, the length of a vector packet will varydepending on whether or not reverse channel transmissions or otherresponses are required by the selective call radio 106 to which theforward channel message is directed.

The ability to partition actual message data that is contained in a longmessage from the variable amount of information that is required forrouting and processing the long message (this variable amount ofinformation is contained in the variable length vector packet) is anadvantage provided by this invention. Variable length vector packetsallow flexibility and ease of software construction in both theselective call radio 106 for receiving the message information and inthe system controller 102 for formatting and scheduling messagetransmissions.

Referring to FIG. 6, an electrical block diagram of a selective callradio 106 with inbound messaging capability is shown, in accordance withthe preferred embodiment of the present invention. The selective callradio 106 includes an antenna 680 for intercepting and transmittingradio signals. The intercepted signal 625 in this example includes thecontrol frame 360 illustrated in FIG. 5, which is transmitted at apredetermined protocol position and which includes the selective calladdress 531 (FIG. 5) of the selective call radio 106. Also in thisexample, a long message 534 (FIG. 5) is included in a data frame 370 inthe second signal 526 (FIG. 5) intended for reception by the selectivecall radio 106. Long message 534 is a text message intended forpresentation on display 650. The antenna 680 is coupled to aconventional receiver 610 and a conventional transmitter 685. Thereceiver 610 and the transmitter 685 are coupled to a controller 635.The controller 635 is coupled to a code memory 640, a display 650, analert 660, and a set of switches 670. The controller 635 comprises anaddress decoder 631, a subvector element 632, a data packet positiondecoder 633, a data packet buffer 634, a protocol position decoder 636,a short message processor 637, a long message processor 638, a channelselector 639, and a power mode controller 651. The power mode controller651 comprises a control frame identifier 652, an address switch 653, anaddress field switch 654, and a message switch 655. Just prior toreceipt of the synchronization signal 331 of the control frame 360, atthe predetermined protocol position within the cycle 320, the controlframe identifier 652 switches a power mode of the selective call radio106 to a normal power state, in which the receiver 610 begins receivingradio signals. The intercepted signal 625 is coupled to the receiver 610wherein the intercepted signal 625 is received, which includes filteringto remove undesirable energy at off channel frequencies, amplificationof the filtered signal, frequency conversion of the signal 625, anddemodulation of the signal 625 in a conventional manner. The receiver610 thereby generates a demodulated signal 614 which is coupled to acontroller 635. The demodulated signal 614 is coupled to the addressdecoder 631, the subvector element 632, the data packet buffer 634, thelong message processor 638, the message switch 655, and the controlframe identifier 652.

The demodulated signal 614 includes the information transmitted in theframes 360, 370 of this example in the form of data symbols, includingthe long message 534, with errors possibly induced during the radiocommunication of the signal. The controller 635 recovers bits from thedata symbols received at a predetermined outbound data rate in thedemodulated signal 614 and performs decoding of the binary informationfor recovering digital portions of the frames 360, 370 such as theaddress field 333, data packets, and digital long messages using errorcorrection and detection techniques well known to one of ordinary skillin the art. The controller 635 is coupled to a code memory 640, in whichis stored one or more addresses assigned to the selective call radio106, such as a local address (used in a "home" portion of the radiocommunication system 100), a "roaming" address (used in other portionsof the radio communication system 100), and a group address (shared withother "home" selective call radios 106). The assigned address(es) arealso referred to herein as the embedded addresses. When the controller635 determines that the address field 333 of the control frame 360,which includes the selective call address 531 (FIG. 5), is sufficientlyerror free the controller 635 couples the address field 333 to theaddress decoder 631 which compares each outbound selective call addressin the control frame 360 to the embedded addresses. When none of theoutbound selective call addresses in the recovered control frame 360match any embedded selective call address before the address boundary334 (FIG. 3, 4, and 5), the address field switch 654 puts the selectivecall radio 106 into a low power mode in which the selective call radio106 cannot receive radio signals, and the controller 635 ceases furtherprocessing of the demodulated signal 614 until a later time when asubsequent control frame 360 is transmitted at a predetermined positionwhich potentially includes a selective call address for the selectivecall radio 106.

When any outbound selective call address in the recovered control frame360 and an embedded selective call address match, a valid address signalis coupled to the subvector element 632, which responds by recoveringthe subvector portion of the address, and coupling it to the data packetposition decoder 633. The data packet position decoder 633 determinesthe starting position of the data packet 533 (FIG. 5) as a number ofwords from the address boundary 334, and couples it to the data packetbuffer 634. The data packet position decoder 633 further couples a datapacket position signal to the message switch 655 which in responseswitches the selective call radio 106 to the low power mode until thestarting position of the data packet, at which time the message switch655 switches the selective call radio 106 to the normal power mode. Theduration of the data packet 533 is determined by the message switch frominformation within the data packet, and the message switch 655 switchesthe power mode to the low power mode at the end of the data packet.During the low power mode, processing of message information continues,but signal reception does not. In response to the starting position, thedata packet buffer 634 stores the data packet recovered at the protocolposition of the data packet 533. The data packet buffer 634 determineswhether the data packet is a short message packet or a vector packet,and accordingly couples the packet information to either the shortmessage processor 637 or the protocol position decoder 636. When thedata packet is a short message packet the short message processor 637processes the short message packet, as for example, when the shortmessage packet is an acknowledgment message, by completing atransmission cycle of the inbound message being acknowledged. In thecase of the example being used herein, the data packet 533 is a vectorpacket. The protocol position decoder 636 decodes the starting positionof the long message 534, which includes in this example an indicationthat the long message 534 is in the same frame position as the controlframe 360, but in the second signal 526.

The protocol position decoder 636 generates a channel indicator for thesecond signal 526 which is coupled to the channel selector 639, andcouples the decoded starting position of the long message 534 to thelong message processor 638 and the message switch 655. The messageswitch 655 switches the power mode of the selective call radio 106 tothe normal power mode, the channel selector 639 switches the receivingfrequency of the receiver 610 to the frequency of the second signal, andthe long message processor 638 recovers the long message 534 during theprotocol position determined from the starting position determined fromthe vector packet 533 and the length of the long message. The length ofthe long message is determined by the message switch from information inthe long message in the demodulated signal 614. At the end of the longmessage, the message switch 655 switches the power mode of the selectivecall radio 106 to the low power mode.

It will be appreciated that the vector packet for a long message may beused to direct a selective call radio 106 to receive a long message onanother channel (or at a different time on the same channel) that issubstantially different in signaling format from the format of thecontrol frame 360. For example, a selective call radio 106 can bevectored from a synchronous control frame 360 as described above to aradio channel that contains only Post Office Committee StandardizationAdvisory Group (POCSAG) formatted one way asynchronous paging signaling.In this particular instance, the vector contained in the control frame360 directs the selective call radio 106 to switch to the POCSAG channeland to continue to decode the asynchronous POCSAG signaling format untilit receives a POCSAG page. After receiving the POCSAG page it switchesback to resume the normal operation of decoding the synchronous controlchannel in those control frames wherein the address of the selectivecall radio 106 will appear. Note that in this example the selective callradio 106 would not have decoded the asynchronous POCSAG signalingformat unless it had been directed to do so by the system controller 102by way of the vector packet in the synchronous control frame 360.

It will be further appreciated that the protocol position of the datapackets could be entirely conveyed, alternatively, by information solelywithin the subvectors by including the length in the subvectors insteadof having the starting position in the subvectors and the lengths withinthe data packets, but that this alternative technique requires longersubvectors. Conversely, it will be appreciated that the protocolposition of the long messages could be conveyed by including only thestarting position in the vector and the length in the long messages,which would shorten the vectors, but the length information of the longmessage is typically not a substantial proportion of the vectorinformation.

The controller 635 is coupled to a set of switches 670, to which thecontroller 635 is responsive for setting and controlling a plurality ofoperational modes of the selective call radio 106. Depending on theoperational mode of the selective call radio 106, and depending on thecontents of the long message 534, the controller 635 couples informationincluded in the long message 534 to a display 650 for presentation andstores information included in the long message 534 for laterpresentation. Also depending on the operational mode of the selectivecall radio 106, a sensible alert device 660, for example, a tone alertdevice or a vibration alert device, is activated in response to thealert signal.

It will be appreciated that any of the long messages included in theradio signal can include analog message information instead of digitalinformation. In this situation, the analog information is preferablycoupled from the system controller 102 to the transmitter/receiver 103in the form of digitized analog information, for example adaptivedifferential pulse code modulated (ADPCM) digitization, where it istransformed back into an analog signal used to modulate the radiosignal. At the selective call radio 106, the analog demodulated signal614 is preferably ADPCM digitized and processed by the controller 635which implemented, at least in part, as a digital signal processor. Theanalog long message can be a compressed voice message, in which case theanalog message is stored until presentation to a user, at which time theADPCM data is converted back to an analog signal which is coupled to aspeaker (not shown in FIG. 6) for conversion to an audible voicemessage.

In this example, upon determining that the long message 534 includes atext message, the controller 635 couples the text message to the display650 and generates an encoded acknowledgment message. The acknowledgmentmessage is coupled to the transmitter 685, which generates an RFtransmit signal 695. The RF transmit signal 695 is coupled to theantenna 680 and transmitted.

The receiver 610 in the preferred and alternate embodiments of thepresent invention in FIG. 6 is preferably a conventional dual conversionreceiver of a type well known to those skilled in the art, but canalternatively be of other conventional types, such as a singleconversion or zero intermediate frequency (ZIF) receiver. The codememory 640 is conventional EPROM, or conventional SRAM or anotherconventional memory type which is well known to those skilled in theart. The display 650 is an LCD display of a type well known to thoseskilled in the art, and the antenna 680, switches 670, and alert device660 are devices also well known to those skilled in the art. Thecontroller 635 is preferably implemented within a controller sectionwhich includes, but is not limited to conventional hardware circuitsincluding a microprocessor, timing circuits, random access memory,non-volatile memory such as EPROM, and input/output circuitry. Theunique functions of the address decoder 631, the subvector element 632,the data packet position decoder 633, the data packet buffer 634, theprotocol position decoder 636, the short message processor 637, the longmessage processor 638, the channel selector 639, the power modecontroller 651, the control frame identifier 652, the address switch653, the address field switch 654, and the message switch 655, asdescribed herein are controlled by unique firmware routines developed inaccordance with techniques well known to one of ordinary skill in theart. The microprocessor is preferably one of the 68HC05 familymicroprocessors made by Motorola, Inc. of Schaumburg, Ill. Thetransmitter 685 is a conventional low power transmitter of a type wellknown to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 7 shows a flow chart which illustrates a method used in a systemcontroller 102 of the radio communication system 100 for generating aforward channel radio signal transmitted on a radio channel, inaccordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Atstep 710, a message is input to the radio communication system using thePublic Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 108. The PSTN number is mappedto a selective call radio address, at step 720, using the subscriberdatabase 220. At step 730, a channel assignment is identified among oneof the radio channels in operation in the radio communication system100. The channel assignment is based on the selective call radio'saddress and a predetermined algorithm which, for example, identifies apredetermined default channel for each selective call radio 106.

At step 740, the next predetermined control frame 360 which will bedecoded by the selective call radio is determined by the systemcontroller 102. The control frame determination is based on theselective call radio's address and system management information. Theinput message type is determined at step 750. When the input message isa short message, it is assembled in the information field of the nextcontrol frame 360, at step 780. The address of the selective call radio106 is included in the same control frame 360 as the one containing theshort message. The starting position of the short message packet isstored in the system controller 102. When the input message is a longmessage, it is generated in the information field of control or dataframes which will be transmitted in one of the radio channels present inthe radio communication system 100, at step 760. The starting positionof the long message is stored. At step 770, a vector packet is assembledin the information field of the control frame in which the selectivecall radio is addressed. The starting position of the long message andthe channel assigned for transmission of the long message, are includedin the vector packet. The starting position of the vector packet isstored.

At step 790, the selective call radio address is generated in theaddress field of the control frame. The position of the data packet(short message packet or vector packet), is included as a subvector inthe selective call radio's address. At step 795, the formatted controland data frames containing addresses and messages for selective callradios are transferred to the cell site controller 202 for transmissionby the radio transmitter/receiver 103.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a flow chart which illustrates a method used in aselective call radio 106 for decoding forward channel informationreceived on a forward channel radio signal transmitted in the radiocommunication system 100, in accordance with the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

At step 805, the selective call radio 106 switches from a low power modeto a normal power mode operation. The switching is done at the beginningof predetermined control frames 360 that the selective call radio 106receives and decodes. At step 810, the selective call radio 106 receivesa forward channel radio signal, and achieves synchronization using theforward channel frame synchronization word 331 at the beginning of thecontrol frame 360. After bit synchronization is achieved the selectivecall radio 106 receives and demodulates block information words presentin the system information field 332 of the forward channel radio signal,at step 815. The block information words are decoded by the selectivecall radio 106 to find the start of address field and the addressboundary 334 in the control frame, at step 820.

At step 825, the selective call radio 106 compares an address decoded inthe address field 333 of the control frame 360, to the embeddedaddresses stored in the selective call radio 106. When a match is notfound by the selective call radio 106, at step 830, and when moreaddresses are found in the address field 333 at step 835, the selectivecall radio 106 decodes the next address in the address field 333 of thecontrol frame 360 and performs the comparison at step 825. When no moreaddresses are present in the address field 333 of the control frame 360,at step 835, the selective call radio 106 switches to the low power modeat the address boundary 334, at step 837, and waits for the nextpredetermined control frame that it has to decode. When a match isfound, at step 830, a subvector embedded in the selective call radio'saddress is decoded from the forward channel radio signal and thestarting position of a data packet associated with the address isdetermined, at step 840, and the selective call radio 106 switches tothe low power mode to conserve battery life, at step 845. The selectivecall radio switches to the normal power mode before the startingposition of the data packet, at step 850. The data packet is recoveredby the selective call radio 106, at step 855, and the type of the datapacket is determined at step 860.

When the data packet is a short message packet, the short message packetis processed at step 890. The short message packet is received by theselective call radio 106 on the same radio channel and in the samecontrol frame 360 as that of the control frame 360 in which theselective call address of the selective call radio 106 is decoded. Theselective call radio 106 determines the length of the data packet frominformation within the data packet. At step 895, the selective callradio switches to the low power mode at the end of the data packet andwaits for the next predetermined control frame 360 that it has todecode.

When the data packet, at step 860, is a vector packet, the selectivecall radio decodes a starting position and length of a long message, atstep 865. At step 870, the selective call radio 106 switches to the lowpower mode at the end of the vector packet to conserve battery life. Theselective call radio 106 switches to the normal power mode before thebeginning of the long message, at step 875. The long message isprocessed in the control frame 360 or data frame 370 identified by thevector packet in a cycle 320 transmitted on any one of the radiochannels operating in the radio communication system 100. At step 885,the selective call radio 106 switches to low power mode at the end ofthe long message to conserve battery life, and waits for the nextpredetermined control frame 360 that it has to decode.

By now it should be appreciated that there has been provided an improvedmethod and apparatus for identifying the position of message informationin a radio signal which offers enhanced flexibility over prior arttechniques, and is particularly useful in radio communication systemsemploying a plurality of radio channels and inbound messages. Theimproved method and apparatus uses a portion of the address field toindicate the position of data packets, which can be short messages orvectors. The short messages, which can be several words long, allow thecommunication of small amounts of information without having to direct aselective call radio to another protocol position, and the vectors allowthe communication of longer messages anywhere, on any channel, withinthe outbound protocol of the radio communication system. The vectors areonly as long as necessary for conveying the protocol position of a longmessage.

We claim:
 1. A method used in a selective call radio for receiving a radio signal transmitted on a first radio channel having short and long messages included in a plurality of control frames and data frames, each of the short and long messages having an address signal and related message information,wherein each control frame comprises an address field and an information field, and wherein the address field of a control frame has a set of address signals, and wherein each address signal of the set of address signals has two different portions which are a subvector and an address, and wherein each subvector has a binary value indicating a position of a data packet within the control frame, and wherein each address indicates one of a plurality of selective call radios associated with the data packet, and wherein the information field follows the address field and has a set of data packets, and wherein each data packet in the set of data packets has the position of the data packet indicated by the binary value of at least one subvector within the control frame, and wherein each data packet in the set of data packets is one of a vector packet and a short message packet, and wherein vector packets indicate starting positions of long messages within the plurality of control frames and data frames, said method comprising the steps of:receiving the radio signal; determining a presence of a first address within a first address signal within the address field in the control frame received in the radio signal, when the first address matches an embedded address assigned to the selective call radio; determining the binary value of a first subvector which is a portion of the first address signal; decoding a starting position of a first data packet determined by the binary value of the first subvector; recovering the first data packet at the starting position of the first data packet; decoding a starting position of a first long message when the first data packet is a vector packet; and processing the first long message beginning at the starting position of the first long message.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of control frames and data frames are transmitted periodically at predetermined times, and wherein the selective call radio has a normal power mode for receiving radio signals and a low power mode during which radio signals cannot be received, further comprising the steps of:switching to the normal power mode at a beginning of a predetermined control frame, wherein the predetermined control frame includes the address of the selective call radio in the address field when the first long message is scheduled to be transmitted within a predetermined period; switching to the low power mode when an address present in the address field of the predetermined control frame is determined to match the embedded address; switching to the low power mode after the address field is received when no address present in the address field of the predetermined control frame is determined to match the embedded address; and switching to the normal power mode at the starting position of the first long message.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first data packet has a data packet length and the first long message has a long message length, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of switching to the normal power mode at the starting position of the first data packet, switching to the low power mode after a duration equivalent to the data packet length, and switching to the low power mode after a duration equivalent to the long message length.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selective call radio is for receiving radio signals on a plurality of radio channels, and wherein the control frame which includes the first data packet is transmitted on a first radio channel, and wherein a frame including the first long message is transmitted on a second radio channel, and wherein the method further comprises the step of switching from the first radio channel to the second radio channel prior to the step of processing the first long message.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein address signals are two words long, wherein each of the two words is thirty two bits long, and each address includes a subvector which is eight bits long.
 6. A selective call radio for receiving a radio signal transmitted on a first radio channel, wherein the radio signal has short and long messages included in a plurality of control frames and data frames, each of the short and long messages having an address signal and related message information,wherein each control frame comprises an address field and an information field, and wherein the address field of a control frame has a set of address signals, and wherein each address signal of the set of address signals has two different portions which are a subvector and an address, and wherein each subvector has a binary value indicating a position of a data packet within the control frame, and wherein each address indicates one of a plurality of selective call radios associated with the data packet, and wherein the information field follows the address field and has a set of data packets, and wherein each data packet in the set of data packets has the starting position of the data packet indicated by the binary value of at least one subvector within the control frame, and wherein each data packet in the set of data packets is one of a vector packet and a short message packet, and wherein vector packets indicate stapling positions of long messages within the plurality of control frames and data frames, said selective call radio comprising:a receiver for receiving the radio signal; an address decoder coupled to said receiver for determining a presence of a first address within a first address signal within the address field in a control frame received in the radio signal when the first address matches an embedded address assigned to the selective call radio; a subvector element coupled to said receiver and said address decoder for determining the binary value of a first subvector which is a portion of the first address signal; a data packet position decoder coupled to said subvector element for decoding a starting position of a first data packet determined by the binary value of the first subvector; a data packet buffer coupled to said receiver and said data packet position decoder for recovering the first data packet at the starting position of the data packet; a protocol position decoder coupled to said data packet buffer for decoding a starting position of a first long message when the first data packet is a vector packet; and a long message processor coupled to said receiver and said protocol position decoder for processing the first long message at the starting position of the first long message.
 7. The selective call radio according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of control frames and data frames are transmitted periodically at predetermined times, and wherein the selective call radio has a power mode controller for setting the power mode into a normal power mode for receiving radio signals and a low power mode during which radio signals cannot be received, the power mode controller comprising:a control frame identifier element coupled to said receiver for setting the power mode to the normal power mode at a beginning of a predetermined control frame, wherein the predetermined control frame includes the address of the selective call radio in the address field when the first long message intended for the selective call radio is scheduled to be transmitted within a predetermined period; an address switch coupled to said address decoder for setting the power mode to the low power mode when an address present in the address field of the predetermined control frame is determined to match the embedded address; an address field switch coupled to said receiver and said address element for setting the power mode to the low power mode after the address field is received when no address present in the address field of the predetermined control frame is determined to match the embedded address; and a message switch coupled to said receiver, said protocol position decoder, and said data packet position decoder for setting the power mode to the normal power mode at the starting position of the first long message.
 8. The selective call radio according to claim 7, wherein the first data packet has data packet length and the first long message has a long message length, and wherein said message switch is also for switching to the normal power mode at the starting position of the first data packet, switching to the low power mode after a duration equivalent to the data packet length, and switching to the low power mode after a duration equivalent to the long message length of the first long message.
 9. The selective call radio according to claim 6, wherein the selective call radio is for receiving radio signals on a plurality of radio channels, and wherein the control frame which includes the first data packet is transmitted on a first radio channel, and wherein a frame including the first long message is transmitted on a second radio channel, and wherein the selective call radio further comprises a channel selector for switching from the first radio channel to the second radio channel before receiving the first long message.
 10. The selective call radio according to claim 6, wherein address signals are two words long, wherein each of the two words is thirty two bits long, and each address includes a subvector which is eight bits long.
 11. A method used in a system controller for generating a radio signal transmitted on a first radio channel, wherein the radio signal has short and long messages included in a plurality of control frames and data frames, each of the short and long messages having an address signal and related message information, the method comprising the steps of:generating an address field of a control frame having a set of address signals, wherein each address signal of the set of address signals has two different portions which are an address and a subvector, and wherein each address indicates one of a plurality of selective call radios for which one of the short and long messages is intended, and wherein each subvector has a binary value indicating a starting position of a data packet within the control frame; generating an information field in the control frame following the address field and having a set of data packets, wherein each data packet in the set of data packets has the starting position of the data packet indicated by the binary value of at least one subvector within the control frame, and wherein each data packet in the set of data packets is one of a vector packet and a short message packet, and wherein vector packets indicate starting positions of long messages within the plurality of control frames and data frames; assembling each control frame comprising an address field and an information field; assembling each data frame comprising a set of long messages, wherein each long message in the set of long messages has a starting position indicated by at least one vector packet in a control frame; and transferring the control frames and data frames to a transmitter for radio transmission.
 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein a set of radio channels are used to transmit the radio signal, further comprising the step of:identifying from the set of radio channels a radio channel used for transmitting each control frame and each data frame; and wherein in said step of generating an information field, an identification of the radio channel used for transmitting a data frame which includes a long message is included in the starting position of the long message.
 13. The method according to claim 11, wherein in said step of generating the information field, an indication of a length of the data packet is included in each data packet, and wherein the starting position indicated by the binary value of the subvector is a starting position of the data packet.
 14. The method according to claim 11, wherein address signals are two words long, wherein each of the two words is thirty two bits long, and each address includes a subvector which is eight bits long.
 15. A system controller for generating a radio signal transmitted on a first radio channel, wherein the radio signal has short and long messages included in a plurality of control frames and data frames, each of the short and long messages having an address signal and related message information, the system controller comprising:a control frame element for assembling each control frame comprising an address field and an information field; an address field element, coupled to an outbound message memory which stores the short and long messages, and coupled to said control frame element, for generating an address field of a control frame having a set of address signals, wherein each address signal of the set of address signals has two different portions which are an address and a subvector, and wherein each address indicates a selective call radio for which one of the short and long messages is intended, and wherein each subvector has a binary value indicating a starting position of a data packet within the control frame; an information field element, coupled to said outbound message memory, said address field element, and said control frame element, for generating an information field in the control frame following the address field and having a set of data packets, wherein each data packet in the set of data packets has the starting position of the data packet indicated by the binary value of at least one subvector within the control frame, and wherein each data packet in the set of data packets is one of a vector packet and a short message packet, and wherein vector packets indicate starting positions of long messages within the plurality of control frames and data frames; a data frame element, coupled to said information field element, for assembling each data frame comprising a set of long messages, wherein each long message in the set of long messages has a starting position indicated by at least one vector packet in a control frame; and a cell site controller, coupled to said data frame element and said control frame element, for transferring the control frames and data frames to a transmitter for radio transmission.
 16. The system controller according to claim 15, further comprising:a channel assignment element, coupled to said address field element and said data frame element, for identifying one of a plurality of radio channels associated with each control frame and data frame, and wherein said information field element includes an identification of the one of the plurality of radio channels associated with the long message in the starting position of each long message.
 17. The system controller according to claim 15, wherein in said information field element includes an indication of a length of the data packet in each data packet, wherein the position indicated by the binary value of the subvector is a starting position of the data packet. 